Luke Chadwick made a surprise appearance for Cambridge United yesterday (July 22) – in the youth team!

Chadwick is now development phase lead coach at United, overseeing the club's under-12s to under-16s, having hung up his boots last summer to concentrate on his role after spending a season with Soham Town Rangers following his release from the U's in 2015.

But the 36-year-old midfielder answered the call to provide an extra body for United’s under-18s in a friendly against Mildenhall Town’s first team.

United went down 3-2, but the former Manchester United, West Ham and Stoke ace played the second half.

And academy manager Mark Bonner felt Chadwick’s presence had boosted the team’s confidence in a rare outing against senior opposition.

He said: “We were a bit thin on numbers and he’s still obviously a very good player and really good one for young players to play with.

“He was basically a coach on the pitch for them. He keeps himself fit and I think he quite enjoyed it.”

Mildenhall, who are building up to their first season in the Bostik League after winning the Thurlow Nunn League title last season, took the lead after just three minutes with a header from Matt Green following a set piece.

The hosts doubled their advantage just after the break through Josh Curry following a corner.

But United hit back with goals from Lee Watkins and Tom Knowles to level the score.

After making wholesale changes though, the visitors lost their momentum and Mildenhall capitalised with a breakaway goal by Alex Stillinger two minutes from time.

Bonner felt it had been a useful workout for United’s youngsters in their first pre-season friendly.

He said: “It was a brilliant game for us although we probably stressed some of the boys a bit too much in the fact that five or six played 90 minutes and four played 75, which is a lot more than we wanted to be doing at this stage.

“We’re only three weeks into pre-season and it was our first game, but it was a worthwhile exercise for them.

“After we went 2-0 down, for half an hour we played with a really good intensity on the pitch and got it back to 2-2.

“We made quite a few changes and that took the sting out of the game and then we conceded late on when we were stretched and tired.”